Sports Illustrated Teams Up with Galactic to Create New Prediction Market

Sports Illustrated plans to roll out a one-of-a-kind prediction market platform, SI Predict together with UK-based media firm Galactic. The new platform will hit the market in the second quarter of 2025, giving users a chance to make sports-related wagers without betting on game results.

Sports Illustrated’s SI Predict Offers Fans a New Way to Engage with Sports Events

SI Predict will stand apart from regular sportsbooks that zero in on winners and scores. Instead, it will let users place bets on different aspects of sporting events. This could include guesses about game attendance, shows during halftime, or famous people showing up at matches. Sports Illustrated and Galactic said in a joint statement that they aim to boost fan involvement and discussions rather than typical gambling.

In a statement provided to Bloomberg, Galactic CEO Stuart Stott stressed that today’s sports media goes beyond passive watching. He said fans want to get involved and SI Predict will give them a place where their views matter.

People worldwide can access the platform, which follows rules set by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). However, as SI Predict works as a non-custodial service — meaning it does not hold users’ money — it will not need typical gambling licenses. The platform’s bets look like futures contracts, much like prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi, which use blockchain-based derivatives to let people trade on event results.

Sports Illustrated Moves to Interactive Betting, Leaving Traditional Sportsbook Model Behind

The growing popularity of event-based betting has caught the eye of regulators in recent years. The CFTC has been looking into prediction markets after companies like Kalshi started offering contracts focused on politics. 

Some companies, including Robinhood and Crypto.com, have run into limits on event betting because of worries from regulators. What is more, the Nevada Gaming Control Board even ordered Kalshi to stop taking bets from people living in the state, saying that what they offered did not fit into approved gambling activities.

Sports Illustrated launched SI Predict after deciding to leave the traditional sports betting market. The brand used to run SI Sportsbook and Casino with 888 Holdings but stopped after a strategic review. 888, now called Evoke plc, agreed to pay $25 million to end the deal and will pay more between 2027 and 2029.

SI Predict shows Sports Illustrated’s new direction towards a more interactive sports engagement model that encourages debate. The platform lets fans guess about outcomes that happen around the game instead of just the results. This new approach to sports-related bets aims to keep up with changing rules while offering something new to fans.